In The Weight of Him, a
richly textured, intelligent and emotionally involving novel, Ethel
Rohan explores the devastation as well as the turbulence of emotions
experienced by parents who have lost a child that has taken his life.
What really emerges is Rohan's adept portrayal of intense pain and
anguish that are brilliantly characterized in a journey that exacts a
huge toll.

The yarn unfolds in rural
Ireland where we meet the principal character, Billy Brennan, who is
the father of seventeen year old Michael who has just been lost to
suicide. We immediately become cognizant of the excruciating feelings
of Billy and the guilt that comes from the belief that he could have,
or should have, prevented the death from happening. Unanswered
questions consume him as to why Michael had taken his own life and
how could he have done that to himself, and to those he left behind.
Yet, as Billy and his wife Tricia examine everything for clues, they
conclude that nothing stood out. Sure, Michael may have been
sensitive at times as well as troubled by various fears such as
exams, being in the dark, of water, of bridges, but was there
anything to suggest any deadly extent to his anxieties?

In addition to this tragic
event affecting the lives of the Brennan family, we learn that Billy
weighs over four hundred pounds and has been informed by his doctor
that he is “morbidly obese and on a very slippery slope.” If he
doesn't do something about his weight “he is going to put his
family through another premature funeral.” Billy is now resolved
that although he could not save his son, at least he could prevent
killing himself and thus he was going to lose weight, once and for
all. His plan, which will honor the death of his son, is to undertake
a public weight-loss awareness campaign that will raise money from
every pound he loses and thus help save lives. It will be, as the
posters he creates, a March Against Suicide. To Billy's dismay not
all are in favour of his undertaking including his parents who don't
want to bring attention to the suicide of their grandson as well as
Billy's obesity. There is however support from several individuals
that can relate to Billy's tragedy from their own personal
experiences.

Rohan's prose is
unrelenting and precise as we follow Billy trying to keep his life as
well as his family's from spinning out of control as a result of the
enormous impact of the tragedy. Some of the themes examined include the
delicate family dynamics that swirls around the tragedy including
Billy's wife who is involved with her own feelings and hopelessness
as she disengages from him. And then there is Billy's obsession and
commitment to carry on his plan to lose weight and overcome his
addiction to food-a journey that will present many challenges.

This wrenching debut novel
has all the finish and polish expected from an author of much more
experience and larger accomplishments. It is one that will surely
force readers to confront it as they grapple over the various
messages touched upon by Rohan as one excellently executed scene
follows another.